Pure and Undefiled Religion

“Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

- from the Epistle of St. James

St. James wrote his brief epistle during a time when the Church was being greatly persecuted. It was addressed to followers of Christ who had grown discouraged. It just wasn’t easy to sustain their faith when everyone and everything around them was trying to lure them away. St. James addresses these words to encourage them, even though everything around them was discouraging. He is recalling them to the truth of Jesus Christ, which had excited them and attracted them at the time of their conversion. He is calling them from the distractions of the world, back to the true religion revealed by Jesus Christ Himself. He says to them: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

St. James makes clear that there is such a thing as pure and undefiled religion. Just as there were then, so there are those today who would deny this fact. “Look around you,” they would say. Someone who claims to be a follower of Christ, turns out to be insincere, and so there are those who are all too eager to claim that religion is a sham, a hypocrisy.

But we know this is not the case. For every Judas who betrays, there is a St. Paul who struggles to serve Christ. For every Simon the Magician who pretends to practice religion for what he can gain, there is a St. John who seeks only to love God. St. James is reminding us that there are those who truly walk with God, and have the desire to honor and please God. In the midst of the whirl of business, amidst the selfishness and malice and short tempers in the world, there are those who are struggling upward toward the light of Christ, fighting against sin, and looking forward to that time when all things will be brought to perfection in Christ.

So then, what are the marks of the “pure and undefiled” religion St. James is talking about? We need to know, because this is what we are trying to practice. So what defines its reality? First of all, this kind of religion comes from God. It is approved and accepted by God. James teaches us, “Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” In other words, there is nothing from man that is “pure and undefiled.” No one can say, “I have made my own heart clean. I have purified myself from my sin.” No, the best that man can bring forth out of his own power is bound to be stained. But pure religion comes down from above. Its origin is from above. It is sent by the Father to sanctify us and renew us.

But how does this pure and undefiled religion find its way into our corrupt and sinful hearts? Scripture gives the answer: “God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He has loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, has made us alive with Christ… We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has ordained that we should walk in…” We know through Scripture and the constant teaching of the Church, that God’s Holy Spirit renews the heart, and teaches us to think and feel and act in the right way. God has planted in us the spirit of repentance and of faith and of love. He has made us worthy and righteous through the worthiness and righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

St. James then goes on to speak of two “marks” of this pure religion: “to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” In other words, true religion – real faith – leads to tender and kindly actions towards the desolate and afflicted. St. Paul put it this way in his epistle to the Galatians: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” No one can have true religion unless he has the Spirit of Christ, and he who has the Spirit of Christ will have something of the mind of Christ. And certainly Christ had a true pity and sympathy for all those who were touched by sorrow and affliction. Didn’t He say to the widow of Nain, “Do not weep,” and then gave back to her her only son who had died? Didn’t He carry in His heart the sorrows of His disciples when He was about to leave them as a flock of fatherless children in a cold and cruel world? And He give them encouragement with the promise, “I will not leave you comfortless.” Surely, every disciple, in the practice of pure and undefiled religion, must follow in the footsteps of the Master; and Christ has pleaded with every disciple to care for His poor, to care for His little ones, to comfort all those whom He Himself would comfort, and to speak His word to those who do not know His grace and love.

Remember Christ’s important lesson: “What you have done to the least of these my brethren, you have done to me.” And remember also, that it is the willing heart that Christ cares about. It is the desire and the readiness to visit the orphan and the widow, or to care for those who are living without God and without hope, when the opportunity presents itself, This is what is really pleasing to our Heavenly Father.

Now, of course there are times when it isn’t always possible to respond to every need we hear about. We can’t deal with every single person in need; we can’t alleviate every case of suffering throughout the world. There may be constraints of family responsibilities, and no one has unlimited resources. However, where there is true sincerity, and a honest effort to do what we really can do, God accepts desire as being like the deed. Remember in the Old Testament, King David truly wanted to build the Temple, but he was unable; and God told him, “You did well, David, because it was in your heart.” All God asks is that we have that desire in our hearts, and that we follow God’s guidance in doing what we can in showing real charity towards others.

But a second mark of true religion is mentioned by St. James. It is “to keep oneself unstained from the world.” We cannot overcome the world through our own strength. There is only one way to keep from being irreparably stained by the world, and that’s by the exercise of constant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As St. John tells us in his first epistle: “This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith…” If we want to live a life which “overcomes the world,” we need to understand clearly what that means. It means that we are to have our affections set on things above; that our values come from God, and that our goal is eternal union with God. It means that we must let the love of God be supreme in our actions; that we allow no idol to share God’s throne in our hearts. It means that we must make everything we have, everything we are, to be in the service of God’s kingdom. It means that all that we have – our time, our money, our influence, our intellectual gifts, our position in life – all of that must be regarded as already belonging to God.

In our efforts to live a religion which is “pure and undefiled,” remember that it is a gift from God, and not a result of our own work. And when you are discouraged, when it seems that no matter how hard you try, you still fail, remember that others have gone before, and have known the same difficulties. St. Paul writes in his epistle to the Romans, “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do…”

Surely, this is why God has given us the sacrament of penance, and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is through the regular and faithful use of those gifts that we exercise constant faith in the Lord Jesus, and through them we have Christ’s power always with us. Through that power, even though we are not yet made perfect, by God’s grace others will see in us that “religion which is pure and undefiled before God…”

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Painting: "Christus heilt Kranke" 

by Gebhard Fugel c.1920

St Aidan, Bishop, and the Saints of Lindisfarne

The Holy Island of Lindisfarne has a recorded history from the 6th century AD. It was an important center of Christianity not only under St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, but also is known for its association with St. Finan, St. Eata, St. Colman, and St. Cuthbert, Northumberland's patron saint. Notable saints who were students at Lindisfarne include St. Chad, St. Cedd, and St. Wilfrid.

St. Aidan studied under St. Senan, one of the great Irish monk-saints, and he became a monk at Iona in about the year 630. His obvious virtues caused him to be selected as first Bishop of Lindisfarne in 635.

Lindisfarne is an island of about one thousand acres, and is off the northeast coast of England. It served as a home base for the evangelizing of the mainland, and in time St. Aidan became known as the "apostle of Northumbria," because the king of Northumbria, Oswald, asked him to come and spread the Christian faith among the people. St. Bede spoke highly of the spiritual care given by St. Aidan to his people. King Oswald had studied in Ireland and because of their common spiritual heritage he eventually became a close friend of St. Aidan, supporting him in his work to the end of his life.

St. Aidan died at Bamborough on 31 August 651, and his remains were taken to Lindisfarne. St. Bede writes that "he was a pontiff inspired with a passionate love of virtue, but at the same time full of a surpassing mildness and gentleness."

O Everlasting God, who didst send thy gentle Bishop Aidan to proclaim the Gospel in Britain: grant that, aided by his prayers, we may live after his teaching in simplicity, humility, and love for the poor; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Ss. Margaret Clitherow, Anne Line, and Margaret Ward, Martyrs

The three martyrs we commemorate on August 30th are numbered amongst the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, who suffered death for the Catholic faith which had been outlawed in the kingdom. These three women – St. Margaret Clitherow, St. Anne Line, and St. Margaret Ward – were all martyred because they protected Catholic priests from the Elizabethan authorities, who were seeking out all Catholic priests for execution. During this dark time in history, it was illegal for priests to be in the country, as it was illegal for Catholics to receive the Sacraments of the Catholic Church.

ST. MARGARET CLITHEROW was a convert to the faith. She became a Catholic when she was eighteen. Although her husband was not a Catholic, he supported her in the practice of her faith, along with their son Henry, who was studying for the priesthood. Margaret’s husband even went so far all to allow her to welcome priests into their home for the celebration of Mass, and 1586 she was arrested for giving shelter to a priest. She was condemned to the horrifying death of being slowly crushed to death, being made to lay upon a sharp stone with a door placed upon her while nearly eight hundred pounds of stone were gradually added on top of the door. This took place on Good Friday in 1586. She died with the name of Jesus upon her lips.

ST. ANNE LINE was also a convert, and was completely disowned by her family. In 1586 she married a man who was also a convert to the faith, but who was soon exiled from the country, leaving Anne by herself. She eventually managed two “safe houses” where travelling priests could hide, but was arrested on February 2, 1601, when she assisted a priest in escaping arrest. When she was brought to court, she fully admitted what she had done, and told the judge that her only regret was that she had not helped more priests. St. Anne Line was hanged in London, and before her death she repeated what she had said in court, stating clearly that she did not repent for her actions, but that she wished she could have done it a thousand times.

ST. MARGARET WARD was an unmarried woman, and so is a virgin-martyr. She helped a priest escape from the prison where he was being held by smuggling him a length of rope with which he could lower himself over the prison wall. She was eventually accused of giving assistance to the priest because it was known that she was the last person to have visited him, and therefore was the most obvious person to have given the rope to the prisoner. St. Margaret Ward was bound by chains, hung up by her hands, and was brutally scourged, as the authorities demanded to know where the priest had gone. She steadfastly refused, and was hanged publicly in London on August 30, 1588.

Although these three martyrs were canonized in 1970 among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, they are commemorated on a separate day because of the particular reason for their deaths; namely, their deep respect for the priesthood, and their zealous protection of priests.

Steadfast God, as we honour the fidelity in life and constancy in death of thy holy Martyrs Margaret Clitherow, Anne Line, and Margaret Ward: we pray thee to raise up in our day women of courage and resource to care for thy household the Church; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Passion of St. John the Baptist

The circumstances surrounding the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist are rather unsavoury. We have a drunken king who makes an oath because he doesn’t want to be embarrassed in front of others. We have a hateful queen who wants revenge. We have a young girl who is pushed into the situation by her mother, and made to do a seductive dance and then make a deal to have John murdered.

This Gospel account describes it for us:

Herod had sent and seized John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; because he had married her. For John said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and the leading men of Galilee. For when Herodias' daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it." And he vowed to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom." And she went out, and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the baptizer." And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." And the king was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. And immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard and gave orders to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

- St. Mark 6:17-29

John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and he was the first New Testament prophet. Of course, he was treated like most of the prophets were – he was hated for speaking the truth. Sent by God to prepare the people for the Messiah, his vocation was one of selfless giving. The only power he claimed was the Spirit of God. “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11).

Scripture tells us that many people followed John looking to him for hope, perhaps in anticipation of some great messianic power. John never allowed himself the false honour of receiving these people for his own glory. He knew his calling was one of preparation. When the time came, he led his disciples to Jesus: “The next day John was there again with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God.’ The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus” (John 1:35-37), and so the life and death of St. John the Baptist had the great purpose of pointing the way to Christ.

Almighty God, by whose grace and power thy servant St. John the Baptist triumphed over suffering and despised death: Grant, we beseech thee, that we, enduring hardness and waxing valiant in fight, may with the noble army of martyrs receive the crown of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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"The Beheading of St. John the Baptist" ca. 1869

by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes

St. Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor

St. Augustine was born in A.D. 354 in what is modern-day Algeria. His family was of some substance and highly respected. His father Patricius was a pagan, though he converted to Christianity on his deathbed. His mother St. Monica was a Christian and raised Augustine in the faith, though he was not baptized until he was an adult.

As a boy Augustine became conscious of sin in a special way when he participated in a pointless act of theft – an act which made a profound impression on him and he later wrote about and regretted it. He and some companions stole pears from a tree, not necessarily to eat, but just to steal for the fun of it. In his spiritual autobiography, the Confessions, he described the incident, and ended his account by writing, “Foul was the evil, and I loved it.”

When he was nineteen, Augustine began a long-term affair with a woman. We do not know her name, because Augustine deliberately didn’t record it. He never married her, but they did have a son. Despite his Christian upbringing, Augustine abandoned the Faith and became a Manichean, a gnostic sect, an act which crushed his mother.

So far it doesn’t sound much like the life of a saint, so how did he turn things around? He happened to take a position teaching rhetoric in Milan, Italy and, with the encouragement of his mother, began to have more contact with Christians and Christian literature, which brought him in contact with the great St. Ambrose, then the bishop of Milan.

One day, in the summer of 386, he heard a childlike voice chanting “Tolle, lege” (“Take, read”). He took this as a divine command and opened the Bible, randomly, to Romans 13:13-14, which reads: “Let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

Applying this to his own life, Augustine was cut to the heart, and his conversion began in earnest. He was baptized, along with his son Adeodatus, at the next Easter Vigil by St. Ambrose. A few short years later his mother Monica and his son Adeodatus both died. Augustine returned to him home in North Africa, where he was alone on the family property. He sold almost all his possessions and gave the money to the poor and he turned the family home into a monastery. In 391, he was ordained a priest of the diocese of Hippo. In 395, he became the city’s coadjutor bishop and then its bishop. As bishop, he wrote extensively, and the value of his writings was such that he is considered to be a Church Father.

This great Doctor of the Church spent over 30 years working on his treatise De Trinitate [about the Holy Trinity], endeavouring to conceive an intelligible explanation for the mystery of the Trinity.

Augustine was walking by the seashore one day contemplating and trying to understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity when he saw a small boy running back and forth from the water to a spot on the seashore. The boy was using a sea shell to carry the water from the ocean and place it into a small hole in the sand.

The Bishop of Hippo approached him and asked, “My boy, what are doing?”

“I am trying to bring all the sea into this hole,” the boy replied with a sweet smile.

“But that is impossible, my dear child, the hole cannot contain all that water” said Augustine.

The boy paused in his work, stood up, looked into the eyes of the Saint, and replied, “It is no more impossible than what you are trying to do – comprehend the immensity of the mystery of the Holy Trinity with your small intelligence.”

The Saint was absorbed by such a keen response from that child, and turned his eyes from him for a short while. When he glanced down to ask him something else, the boy had vanished.

Some say that it was an Angel sent by God to teach Augustine a lesson on pride in learning. Others affirm it was the Christ Child Himself who appeared to the Saint to remind him of the limits of human understanding before the great mysteries of our Faith.

Augustine died on August 28, 430. He was canonized by popular acclaim and was subsequently proclaimed to be one of the four original Doctors of the Church.

O Merciful Lord, who didst turn Saint Augustine from his sins to be a faithful Bishop and teacher: grant that we may follow him in penitence and godly discipline; till our restless hearts find their rest in thee; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Monica, Widow and Confessor

The circumstances of St. Monica's life could have made her a nagging wife, a bitter daughter-in-law and a despairing parent, yet she did not give way to any of those temptations. Although she was a Christian, her parents gave her in marriage to a pagan, Patricius, who lived in her hometown of Tagaste in North Africa. Patricius had some redeeming features, but he had a violent temper and lived an immoral life. Monica also had to put up with an ill-tempered mother-in-law who lived in her home. Patricius constantly criticized his wife because of her charity and piety, but he always respected her. Monica's prayers and example finally won her husband and mother-in-law over to Christianity. Her husband died in 371, one year after his Baptism.

Monica had at least three children who survived infancy. The oldest, Augustine, is the most famous. At the time of his father's death, Augustine was 17 and a student of rhetoric in Carthage. Monica was distressed to learn that her son had accepted the Manichean heresy – which was a combination of gnostic Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and various other elements, with the basic doctrine of a conflict between light and dark, with matter (physical things) being regarded as dark and evil. At this point, Augustine was living an immoral life. For a while, Monica refused to let him eat or sleep in her house. Then one night she had a vision that assured her Augustine would return to the faith. From that time on she stayed close to her son, praying and fasting for him. In fact, she often stayed much closer than Augustine wanted.

When he was 29, Augustine decided to go to Rome to teach rhetoric. Monica was determined to go along. One night he told his mother that he was going to the dock to say goodbye to a friend. Instead, he set sail for Rome. Monica was heartbroken when she learned of Augustine's trick, but she still followed him. She arrived in Rome only to find that he had left for Milan. Although travel was difficult, Monica pursued him to Milan.

In Milan Augustine came under the influence of the bishop, St. Ambrose, who also became Monica's spiritual director. She accepted his advice in everything and had the humility to give up some practices that had become second nature to her. Monica became a leader of the devout women in Milan, as she had been in Tagaste.

She continued her prayers for Augustine during his years of instruction. At Easter, 387, St. Ambrose baptized Augustine and several of his friends. Soon after, he and his friends left for Africa. Although no one else was aware of it, Monica knew her life was nearing the end. She told Augustine, "Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled." She became ill shortly after and suffered severely for nine days before her death.

O God, who art the Comforter of them that mourn, and the Salvation of them that hope in thee, who didst graciously regard the tearful pleading of blessed Monica for the conversion of her son Augustine: grant, we beseech thee, at their united intercession; that we may truly lament our sins and be made worthy to obtain thy gracious pardon; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Image: "St. Monica" from a fresco

by Benozzo Gozzoli,  c. 1465

Making Choices

Joshua said to all the people, “If you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

- Joshua 24:15

Jesus said to the twelve, “Will you also go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

- St. John 6:67,68

Every one of us, at some time in our life, has been in the position of having to make a difficult choice. The complexity of the choice usually increases as we get older, but for most of our lives we’re faced with making choices – sometimes between two perfectly legitimate alternatives, but more often than not we have to make choices between something that is good for us, and something that would be bad for us. So whether it be our choice of friends, or what we’re going to eat, or where we’re going to college, or our life’s vocation, or what to do in some moral dilemma, making choices is part of life.

We see it in the Book of Joshua, when he was challenging the people to reject all other gods and serve the one true God. He gathered the tribes of Israel together, and said to them, “If you’re unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” This was one of those times when the choice was stark, and a decision had to be made.

Another time we see a demanding choice crop up is in the sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel. It was in the great “Bread of Life” discourse given by Jesus, where He called Himself the “true bread from heaven.” He told the crowd around Him that “my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him… he who eats this bread will live forever.” And when the people heard Christ’s words, their response was: “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

So the crowds who had been following Jesus made a choice: they turned and left Him. His words were too hard for them, so they left. And what did He do? Did He run after them and say, “Wait! Let’s weigh the options here. I didn’t mean those things literally! I didn’t mean that you actually have to eat my flesh and drink my blood. I only meant it symbolically. I only meant you had to do it in a spiritual way.” No – Jesus didn’t do that. The choice to be made was a stark one, and He let the choice stand, even if it meant that the crowds left Him. And after they left, what did He do then? He turned to the twelve – those chosen to be His apostles – and He asked them “Will you also go away?” Another choice to be made – He was saying to them, “Choose, you apostles. Will you follow the crowd, or will you stand with me and with my words?”

Our belief about the Real Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar is a hallmark belief of the faithful Catholic. But there have been those throughout history who couldn’t accept this truth from Jesus, and the denial of this truth robs many otherwise faithful people of that direct communion our Saviour Jesus Christ. St. Peter summed it up: “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” We must choose whether or not to believe what Christ has plainly and clearly said.

So often, people’s reactions to the words of Jesus – whether they be words about the sacraments, or words about our moral conduct, or words about salvation, or words about any number of things – so often, the reaction is like that of the crowd: “This is a hard saying. Who can listen to it?” And when that question is asked, the next thing we see is what we saw in the Gospel account: people turn from Jesus, and go their own way, which is why there are thousands of protestant denominations and independent congregations today, all claiming to have the truth. And sadly, most everyone knows of someone who has left the Catholic Church because of one reason or another – perhaps because they didn’t like some teaching or other; or because the requirements of Catholic life were too difficult; or because the words of Christ spoken through the Church weren’t convenient, or their “lifestyle” was being cramped. And they think the answer is to walk away, as though by ignoring the truth they can somehow change it.

Imagine the sorrow Christ must have felt when some of His followers didn’t believe Him, and so left Him. And His sorrow is the same today, when someone leaves the Church, or when we ourselves reject something He has taught us. Imagine His sorrow as He looks upon our nation, and so many of our national leaders, who have rejected what would be considered a normal sense of morality. Surely, Christ weeps, and our nation really is facing yet another time of choice.

Look at what happened in the Gospel account. When the others left, He turned to His apostles and asked them if they were going to leave, too. Jesus turns to each and every one of us, every single day, and he asks, “Will you also go away?”

Our choices determine with whom we stand. So where do we stand? We need to stand with Peter and the other apostles, and give Jesus our answer: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” And we need to stand with Joshua – “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

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Fresco: "The Twelve Apostles"

by Enrico Reffo (1831-1917)

St. Bartholomew, Apostle

In St. John's Gospel, Bartholomew (son of Tolomai) is known by the name Nathaniel.  His home was Cana in Galilee, where the miraculous turning of water into wine took place, and he was one of the first disciples called by the Lord Jesus. It was of Bartholomew that Christ said, "Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile!" 

After the Resurrection of our Lord, he was blessed by being one of the few apostles who witnessed the appearance of the risen Saviour on the sea of Galilee (John 21:2). Following the Ascension the tradition is that he preached the Gospel in Greater Armenia, and it was there that he was martyred by being flayed, which means that while he was still alive, his skin was torn from his body. The Armenians honor him as the apostle of their nation. 

His relics were brought eventually to Rome to a small island in the middle of the Tiber, where there is a basilica and hospital.

O Almighty and everlasting God, who didst give to thine apostle St. Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach thy Word: Grant, we beseech thee, unto thy Church to love what he believed and to preach what he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Tomb of St. Bartholomew, Tiber Island

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Painting: "St. Bartholomew" by Bernardino Di Betto, ca. 1452–1513

St. Rose of Lima

St. Rose of Lima, the first canonized saint of the New World, has one characteristic common to so many saints – she was not really understood by those around her. And she had another characteristic which should not necessarily be imitated by everybody – that of an excessive practice of mortification, that is, self-inflicted suffering.

St. Rose was born to parents of Spanish descent in Lima, Peru, at a time when South America was in its first century of evangelization. She was baptized with the name Isabella, but because she was an extremely beautiful young girl, she was given the nickname of Rose, because she reflected the beauty of roses.

Sometimes the saints have a love for God that is so tremendous, it drives them to some things that would seem very strange to us. And in fact, sometimes the discipline and practices of some of these things really are imprudent, but is a kind of logical carrying out of the idea that anything which might come between them and God should be rooted out. We see this with St. Rose of Lima. Because her beauty was so often admired, she was afraid she would become vain, and she worried that people would think more about her beauty than they would think of God, so Rose used to rub her face with pepper to produce disfiguring blotches. Also, she wore a thick circlet of silver on her head, but it was studded on the inside, like a crown of thorns, giving her a constant reminder of the suffering of Christ. These aren’t necessarily the sorts of things that should be imitated, but they do give us an idea of the intensity of her love for God.

When her parents fell into financial trouble, she worked in the garden all day and sewed at night, to help with family expenses. Even though she was a model daughter, and worked hard for the family, for ten long years she struggled against her parents because of their insistence that she should find a young man and get married. Rose herself sensed a vocation to religious life, but they refused to let her enter a convent, so out of obedience she continued her life of penance and solitude at home as a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic. So deep was her desire to live the life of Christ that she spent most of her time at home in solitude.

During the last few years of her life, St. Rose set up a room in the house, where she cared for homeless children, the elderly and the sick. This was really the very first organized charitable work done for the poor in Peru. She was completely secluded in her life and activity – she worked with no one else, and in fact the authorities found her way of life so strange that she was interrogated by church officials, but after speaking with her, they knew that she was living a life that was filled with God’s grace.

We could see the life of St. Rose as just being an eccentric life – a strange girl who did what seemed to be strange things. But her life was transfigured from being something odd, into being something beautiful, because of her immense love for God. In fact, her love for Him was so great, that she was able to endure ridicule from many people, as well as long periods of sickness. In fact, her witness to God’s love was so tremendous, that when she died at the age of 31, the whole city came out for her funeral, and all of the most prominent men in the city and in the Church took turns carrying her coffin in the funeral procession.

Almighty God, the giver of all good gifts, who didst will that Saint Rose, bedewed with heavenly graces, should blossom forth among the peoples of the Americas as a flower of virginity and suffering: grant to us thy servants, so to run after her in the fragrance of her sweetness; that we may be found worthy to be made a sweet savour unto Christ our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Image: "Santa Rosa de Lima" 

from the Cuzco School

The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Our understanding of the queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary has grown over the centuries, but it has its roots in Scripture. At the Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “mother of my Lord.”

As in all the mysteries of Mary’s life, Mary is closely associated with Jesus: Her queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship, and when it comes to her queenship, we can go all the way back to the Old Testament to see why it’s true: in the Old Testament the mother of the king has great influence in court. All the things we know about the Blessed Virgin Mary always flows from what we know about the Lord Jesus Christ.

As early as in the fourth century, St. Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and referred to her as “Queen.” Later Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title. Hymns of the 11th to 13th centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.” The Church’s devotional life reflects our belief: one of the mysteries of the Rosary, for instance, is the crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven. In several of the Church’s prayers and litanies, the Blessed Virgin is assigned the title of Queen.

The feast is a logical follow-up to the Assumption and is now celebrated on the octave day of that feast. In 1954, Pope Pius XII established this feast, and he wrote an encyclical titled “To the Queen of Heaven.” In that encyclical, the Pope teaches that Mary deserves the title of Queen because she is Mother of God, and because she is closely associated with Jesus' redemptive work as the New Eve. As Queen, the Blessed Virgin Mary shows us the highest state of perfected humanity, and she intercedes for us in our own growth in holiness.

Grant us, O merciful God, protection in our weakness: That we who celebrate the memory of the holy Mother of God, Our Lady Queen of Heaven, may, by her intercession, be delivered from our sins; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost ever, one God world without end. Amen.

Pope St. Pius X

A young boy named Joseph Sarto was born in Venetia on June 2, 1835, the son of a cobbler. His was a loving family, but a poor one. He was educated in the village school, and received a vocation to the priesthood. He did so well, and was so suited to the ordained life, special permission was given for him to be ordained at the age of 23.

He worked for seventeen years as a parish priest, and when he arrived as curate in the parish of Tombolo he worked tirelessly amongst the people, especially the poor, organizing evening courses to bring a higher level of education to the parish, as well as training the parishioners in the singing of Gregorian chant, all in the context of his sacramental ministry. His pastor, Fr. Constantini, wrote of young Fr. Sarto: "They have sent me as curate a young priest, with orders to mould him to the duties of pastor; in fact, however, the contrary is true. He is so zealous, so full of good sense, and other precious gifts that it is I who can learn much from him. Some day or other he will wear the mitre, of that I am sure. After that—who knows?"

He was obviously marked for great things. He was appointed as bishop of a small diocese, and in 1892 was advanced to the metropolitan see of Venice with the honorary title of patriarch. On August 4, 1903, he was elected Pope, "a man of God who knew the unhappiness of the world and the hardships of life, and in the greatness of his heart wanted to comfort everybody.

The primary aim of his pontificate Pius X announced in his first encyclical letter, which was "to renew all things in Christ." To accomplish this, he encouraged early and frequent reception of Holy Communion; he called for a renewal and improvement of church music; he encouraged daily Bible reading and the establishment of various Biblical institutes. He is known for his very strong stand against Modernism, which he called the "synthesis of all heresies." All these were means toward the realization of his main objective of renewing all things in Christ.

The outbreak of the first World War, practically on the date of the eleventh anniversary of his election to the See of Peter, was the blow that occasioned his death. Bronchitis developed within a few days, and on August 20, 1914, St. Pius X succumbed to "the last affliction that the Lord will visit on me." He had said in his will, "I was born poor, I have lived poor, I wish to die poor" — and no one questioned the truth of his words. He was one of those chosen few men whose personality is irresistible. Everyone was moved by his simplicity and his kindness. Yet it was something more that carried him into all hearts: and that 'something' is best defined by saying that all who were ever admitted to his presence had a deep conviction of being face to face with a saint.

O God, who for the defence of the Catholic faith, and the restoring of all things in Christ, didst fill thy Supreme Pontiff, Saint Pius the Tenth, with heavenly wisdom and apostolic fortitude: graciously grant that, following his teaching and example, we may attain unto eternal rewards; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

It has been said of St. Bernard that "his personality was so attractive, his power of persuasion so difficult to withstand, that we are told that mothers hid their children and wives clung to their spouses lest he attract them into the monastery.”

Who was this man? Bernard’s father was a knight who had died in battle and his mother also died when Bernard was still quite young. In the year 1098 Bernard felt called to join a monastic community of reformed Benedictines. In his excitement about entering the monastery, he also persuaded twenty-four of his friends, four of his brothers and two of his uncles to join with him, which indicates the influence that he had even at a young age. The community had been dwindling, so we can imagine what it meant when this zealous young man showed up with thirty other men, ready to learn and live the monastic life.

Bernard really wanted to live a hidden life, spending his time doing manual work and praying to God. Instead, St. Bernard and eleven others were sent out to establish a monastery. Before the monastery was established the town was called Wormwood and was a haven for thieves; after the monastery was established the area was known as Clairvaux, the Valley of Light. It was there in Clairvaux that Bernard was positioned as abbot and became well-known throughout Christendom.

This newly established monastery grew fast and soon had a hundred and thirty monks. At first St. Bernard was very strict about fasting and would allow the monks to eat very little, but an experience with serious sickness helped him to understand that God had created the body with a need for food, so he reformed the requirements, although life was still quite strict. He felt led to start preaching and became so famous for his preaching that he was sought from all over and people started flocking to hear Bernard of Clairvaux. The teachings brought many people, and St. Bernard also prayed for the sick who came. Many of them were healed by God – sometimes when St. Bernard simply made the sign of the cross over them.

All St. Bernard wanted was a life of contemplation in Clairvaux, but his reputation was wide spread and his advice sought after by princes, popes, and other high ranking leaders in the religious and political arenas. St. Bernard used his influence to work for real justice and he did his very best to make sure that holy and righteous men were placed in positions of leadership. In fact, St. Bernard influenced many bishops and other leaders to change their ways and humble themselves.

As St. Bernard grew older, he began to tire from all his travelling and preaching, and settling disputes, but finally he was able to return to Clairvaux where he continued in his meditations and writings. He spent his last few years writing, and his works are still among the classic works on the Catholic faith. On August 20, 1153 he gathered those who were close to him and received the Last Sacraments. He died at the age of sixty-three.

O God, by whose grace thy servant St. Bernard of Clairvaux, enkindled with the fire of thy love, became a burning and a shining light in thy Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and may ever walk before thee as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Painting: "San Bernardo Abad" 

by Antonio Palomino (1655-1726)

St. John Eudes, Priest and Confessor

St. John Eudes was born on a farm in northern France. He was seventy-nine years old when he died, and with all he accomplished, at the end of his life he was living not far from where he grew up, only in the next county.

During his life he was a religious, a parish missionary, founder of two religious communities and a great promoter of devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He joined the religious community of the Oratorians and was ordained a priest at the age of twenty-four. At that time, there were some severe outbreaks of terrible sickness, taking the lives of thousands of people, and he volunteered to care for the sick. He didn't want to risk bringing the disease to his fellow religious, so he lived in a huge barrel that had been turned on its side in the middle of a field during the plague.

After that time, he became a parish missionary. His gifts as preacher and confessor meant that people flocked to hear him. He preached over a hundred parish missions, some lasting from several weeks to several months.

He had a great concern for the spiritual lives of the clergy, and he realized that the greatest need was for seminaries. He had permission from his general superior and the bishop to do this work, but the a new superior decided he didn't like St. John Eudes or his work, so John decided it was best for him to leave the religious community. He immediately founded a new community, the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, which was devoted to the formation of the clergy by conducting diocesan seminaries, but there were some who tried to ruin this effort, too, until John finally had to give up that work.

In his parish mission work, John was disturbed by the sad condition of women and young girls living on the streets, but who wanted to escape their terrible existence. Temporary shelters were found but arrangements were not satisfactory, until St. John, with the help of others, took on this work by founding another religious community, called the Sisters of Charity of the Refuge.

He is probably best known for the central theme of his writings: Jesus as the source of holiness, Mary as the model of the Christian life. His devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is what formed his own spiritual life.

Holiness is the wholehearted openness to the love of God. It is visibly expressed in many ways, but the variety of expression has one common quality: concern for the needs of others. We see how St. John Eudes carried out this concern in very practical ways.

O God, who didst wonderfully choose thy Priest Saint John Eudes to proclaim the unfathomable riches of Christ: grant us, by his example and teachings; that, growing in knowledge of thee, we may live faithfully by the light of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Walking With God

In his Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul tells us to “look carefully how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise…” (Eph. 5:15).

Life in this world is a kind of pilgrimage. It is a pilgrimage on which our eternal future depends, and we are told to walk carefully, with our eyes and our hearts fixed on the truth which God Himself has given us for our guidance, walking by faith and not by sight, with our attention, our affections, taken up not by the petty and passing things of this world, but by the great realities of that kingdom we cannot see.

We are to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are to follow consciences which have been formed and informed by the study of God’s truth and by prayer and by the diligent use of all of those means of grace given to us by God. 

And as Christ has made it very clear: He gives us all that we need to make this walk of faith: He gives Himself. He said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Christ is that eternal Food which sustains us on our journey. Christ is that Food which gives us strength in our weakness, and which steadies us when we stumble. He truly is Food for the journey, and the destination of that journey is heaven itself.

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Painting: "Christ and Disciples Walking To Emmaus"

by Jan Wildens (Antwerp, Belgium 1586 - 1653)

St. Stephen, King of Hungary

King Stephen is a great national hero and the spiritual patron of Hungary – but he was, first of all, a devout Christian. We think of kings as being heads of state, great military leaders, commanders of armies and rulers over people, and he was all that, but Stephen did those things in the light of his Christian faith, and made his decisions in accordance with the teaching of the Church.

During his early childhood he was pagan, but he was baptized around the age of 10, together with his father, who was the chief of the Magyar people. The Magyars had migrated to the Danube area a little over a hundred years before. When young Stephen was 20 years old, he married Gisela, who was from a powerful and influential family. 

After the death of his father, Stephen became the leader of his people, and did all he could to turn his people into a Christian people. He put down a series of revolts by pagan nobles and through the banishment of paganism, and the establishment of the Church, Stephen made the Magyars into a strong national group. He asked the pope to send more clergy so that the Church could become more organized throughout Hungary, and he also made the request that the pope confer the title of king upon him – not because he wanted the honour for himself, but because he knew his people needed the dignity of being ruled by a Christian king, rather than just a leader with no title. He was crowned on Christmas day in 1001.

Stephen established a system of support for the local churches and priests, and he worked very hard to bring people out of poverty. Out of every 10 towns, one had to build a church and support a priest. He abolished pagan customs, and urged all his subjects to marry, except clergy and religious, because he knew that strong families make a strong society. He was easily accessible to all, especially the poor.

He had hoped that his son Emeric would succeed him as king, but in 1031 Emeric died, and the rest of King Stephen’s days were made very difficult by controversy over who should succeed him as king. His pagan nephews even attempted to kill him. 

King St. Stephen died in 1038. As he was dying, with his right hand he raised up the Holy Crown of Hungary, and prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, asking her to take the Hungarian people as her subjects and to become their queen. After his death, people made pilgrimages to his tomb, where many miracles were recorded, and soon he was canonized – the first king to be venerated as a confessor and saint of the Church.

Grant thy Church, we pray, Almighty God: that she may have Saint Stephen of Hungary, who fostered her growth while a king on earth, as her glorious defender in heaven; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Crown of St. Stephen.

Forty-one years ago...

Ordination to the Sacred Priesthood.
Bishop Popp (l.) and Archbishop Flores (r.)

Prostrate in prayer during the Litany of the Saints.

Our little family, at the beginning of an adventure!

Forty-one years ago, in 1983, on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, eighteen of us - adults and children - made our way to San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, Texas, in the early evening. 

The Cathedral was packed with people who had come for the occasion, but for the tiny number of us, it was a home-coming – the culmination of a very long and very difficult journey to the threshold of the Catholic Church. 

Hands were laid upon me by the archbishop, along with the auxiliary bishop, and other priests of the archdiocese, and I became a priest in the full communion of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. A handful of adults made a Profession of Faith, and so were received into the full communion of the Church. As the archbishop said at the time, “We have a priest. We have some laity. Let’s have a parish!” And he declared it to be so. The formal decree was read out, establishing a parish dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of the Atonement, with the boundaries being co-terminus with those of the archdiocese, and I was appointed to be the Founding Pastor.

It sounds grand now, but then it was a bit daunting. We had no church building; we were only eighteen people; what we were doing hadn’t been done by anybody before, as we were given the mission of establishing an Anglican Use – a specific identity – within the Catholic Church. Would it work? No one knew. In fact, very few really understood what it was all about. But Pope John Paul II had the idea that this was something worth doing – bringing in our small community of former Anglicans, and bringing in our particular liturgical and devotional life, giving it a home in the Catholic Church. And there were others in Rome who saw the possibilities – people such as a Cardinal named Joseph Ratzinger, then the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and subsequently the successor of St. Peter, Pope Benedict XVI. So, armed with the support of men like that, and strengthened by the grace of God, we set about the task of establishing the Anglican Use in the Catholic Church.

And see where it has led.  Ordinariates have been established which allow Anglicans to return to the Catholic Church, bringing with them a liturgy, a spirituality, and a common identity which serves to enrich the whole Church. And the little parish dedicated to Our Lady of the Atonement was the experiment – the model – for one of the most historic developments in the Catholic Church in more than five hundred years.

Why did all of this happen? Because Christ wants it. He desires that His Church should be one. “May they be one, Father, as we are one,” He prayed on the night before He died. So, this is part of the fulfillment of the Will of God.

How did this happen? By the grace of God, and through prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the Mother of the Church. Like any good mother, Mary wants all her children to be unified, to be “at one” with one another. It was no accident that this new parish was established on the Solemnity of the Assumption. In fact, it wasn’t supposed to be on that day. Permission for my ordination and for the establishment of the parish had come from Rome in July, on the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of the Atonement. The archbishop asked me to come to his office so we could discuss some possible dates for all this to take place, and he asked me if I had any particular date in mind. I told him that I’d like it to be a date associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary, and that my first choice would be August 15th, the Solemnity of the Assumption. As he began to leaf through his calendar, he was telling me that it wouldn’t be possible to have it then, because he was always fully committed for other events in the archdiocese on an important Solemnity like that. As he was turning the pages, he stopped mid-sentence, and looked up at me with a puzzled look on his face. As he looked down again, he said to me, “I don’t understand this. There’s nothing written here at all! I’m completely free on the 15th. You have the date.”

By the Divine Will of God, the golden thread of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been woven throughout this whole thing. She, who was chosen from the beginning to be the New Eve, the one who would be instrumental in crushing the head of the serpent; she, who was foretold by the prophet as the Virgin who would conceive and bear a son; she, who was immaculately conceived in the womb of her mother St. Anne; she, who was visited by the Archangel Gabriel and given the knowledge that the Child would bring salvation to the world; she, who stood silently by the Cross, her heart pierced with sorrow; she, who when she breathed her last was taken body and soul into heaven where she now reigns as queen – it is she whose prayers have supported this wonderful experiment.

There should be no safer place for a child than when he is in the arms of his mother. And what a beautiful image it is, when a mother lifts her child up, when she wants him to see something important over the heads of a crowd. Mary our Mother lifts us up, so that we can see something – or rather, Someone – who is most important; namely, Christ her Son. Mary our Mother lifts us up. She lifts us up, and she lifts our cares and our concerns, and our whole being, all up to her Divine Son. She lifts us up in her Immaculate Heart so that we can catch a glimpse of the glory that will be ours in heaven.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Solemnity of the Assumption commemorates the fact that the Blessed Virgin Mary, immaculately conceived and completely sinless throughout her earthly life, was taken by her Son into heaven, body and soul, to be with the Triune God, and where she is crowned as Queen of heaven and earth.

After Christ’s resurrection from the dead, He spent forty days with His apostles taking them more deeply into the revelation of God’s truth, after which He ascended into heaven. Christ took with Him something especially precious which He had received from the Blessed Virgin Mary; namely, our human nature. In doing so, Christ tells us that where He has gone, we are meant to follow.

What we celebrate on the Assumption is the fact that Christ’s Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, did indeed follow Him into heaven. Her Assumption is rather like an echo of the Lord’s Ascension. A pattern is set; a truth is revealed: mankind is meant to dwell body and soul with God forever in heaven. This is God’s plan; this is His intention from the time He created us. In fact, St. Paul teaches us that our true “citizenship” is in heaven.

When our Lord ascended into heaven He took our human nature with Him. As Mary is assumed into Heaven, she also takes something with her. What she takes with her is all of us – not in the same way that the Lord brought our human nature with Him into heaven at His Ascension, nor in the same way that God will raise us up at the last day. But she does take us – she takes us with her in her Immaculate Heart. The Mother of God, who is our Mother also, knows each and every one of us as only a mother can – and as she takes her place in heaven, so she lovingly brings us to Her Son.

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Pictured: "The Assumption of the Virgin"

by Ambrogio Bergognone (1453-1523)

St. Maximilian Kolbe, Martyr of Charity

On August 14th we commemorate a remarkable and brave priest who gave his life for his faith in that terrible and dark place, Auschwitz. St. Maximilian Kolbe was born in Poland in 1894, and when he was sixteen he entered the Franciscan Order. He was sent to study in Rome where he was ordained a priest in 1918. 

Maximilian returned to Poland in 1919 and began spreading the Gospel and devotion to the Blessed Virgin, whom he called the “Immaculata.” He founded a religious community of Franciscans to do this work, and by 1939 it had expanded from just eighteen friars, to 650 all living in one place, making it the largest Catholic religious house in the world. 

To spread the Gospel and devotion to the Immaculata, St. Maximilian used the most modern printing equipment, and he not only published catechetical and devotional tracts, but also a daily newspaper with a circulation of almost a quarter of a million, and a monthly magazine with a circulation of over one million. He started a radio station and planned to build a Catholic movie studio--he was a true "apostle of the mass media." 

In 1939 Nazis invaded his homeland of Poland, and his religious house was severely bombed. He and his friars were arrested, although they were released in less than three months, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. But in 1941 he was arrested again. The Nazis wanted to get rid of anyone who could be considered a leader, and St. Maximilian was taken to the internment camp in Auschwitz. He was there for three months before he was killed, after undergoing terrible beatings and humiliations. 

The circumstances of his martyrdom were these: a prisoner had escaped. The commandant announced that ten men would die. He was an especially cruel man, and as he walked through the ranks of the prisoners he would say “This one. That one,” as he pointed. As they were being marched away to the starvation bunkers, St. Maximilian, who was only known as Number 16670, stepped from the line. Maximilian pointed to one of the prisoners who had been chosen to die. “I would like to take that man’s place. He has a wife and children.” “Who are you?” “A priest.” He gave no name, even though he was one of the best-known priests in all of Poland. There was silence for a moment, and then the commandant, wanting to show his power of life and death over the prisoners, removed the condemned man out of line and ordered St. Maximilian to go with the other nine. They were taken to the “block of death.” They were ordered to strip naked and they were locked in a building where their slow starvation began in complete darkness. But there was no screaming — instead, the prisoners sang hymns together. By the eve of the Assumption, only four were left alive. The jailer came to finish them off, and St. Maximilian was in a corner praying. He lifted his fleshless arm for the needle, which was filled with carbolic acid. They burned his body with all the others. He was beatified in 1971 and in 1982 Pope St. John Paul II canonized Maximilian as a "martyr of charity," because, out of his love for Christ, he had laid down his life for another. 

Most gracious God, who didst fill thy Priest and Martyr Maximilian Kolbe with zeal for thine house and love of his neighbour: vouchsafe that, holpen by the prayers of this devoted servant of the immaculate Mother of God; we too may strive to serve others for thy glory, and become like unto thy dear Son, who loved his own even unto the end; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus, Martyrs

St. Pontian was a Roman who served as pope from 230 to 235. He was a faithful and holy man, and upheld the Catholic faith even when there were those around him who were trying to change it. But he happened to live at a time when the Roman emperor was persecuting the Church horribly, and killing as many Christians as he could find. Pontian was treated in a very cruel way, by being banished to the island of Sardinia, where they mined silver and lead, and where prisoners were forced to work in horrible conditions. Pontian was not only exhausted from the work, but he was constantly beaten by his jailers, and his life was one long torture.

While Pontian was enduring all that, he met another Christian who had been exiled to Sardinia – Hippolytus – who had been a Catholic priest in Rome. Actually, this wasn’t the first time they had met; in fact, Hippolytus was a fierce rival to Pontian. Hippolytus thought that Pontian the pope was too lenient with those who had been trying to water down the faith. He spoke out against Pontian whenever he could, and in fact, Hippolytus gathered around him a group of followers who said that Pontian wasn’t really suitable to be the pope, so they proclaimed Hippolytus to be the pope. Hippolytus led many Christians into schism, claiming that only the really good people could be members of the Church. He taught that Christians should be completely separate from the world, and should have nothing to do with anyone who might sin – naturally, Hippolytus and his followers never thought that they were sinners. This, of course was a heresy.

The emperor didn’t care what differences these two men might have.  As far as he was concerned, they were both part of the Church, and since Hippolytus seemed to be a trouble-maker, he was sent off to Sardinia to work in the mines. As Pontian and Hippolytus were brought together as two prisoners, Hippolytus came to realize how wrong he had been about Pontian. He confessed his errors to Pontian, and the two became friends and companions in their suffering. Both of them were worked to exhaustion, and beaten unmercifully, until both of them died – rivals and enemies when they were free, but friends and fellow Catholics when they were facing death. Both of them are numbered with the martyrs of the Church – Catholics who refused to deny Christ, and whose death gave witness to the power of God.

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God: that we, who on this day devoutly observe the festival of thy holy Martyrs, blessed Pontian and Hippolytus, may thereby increase in godliness to the attainment of everlasting salvation; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal

St. Jane Frances de Chantal was born in 1572 and came from a noble family. Her father gave her in marriage to the Baron von Chantal in 1592. She was a loving wife and mother, and she brought up her children as faithful Catholics, teaching them the importance of obeying God's laws, and always showing kindness to others. She was extremely generous to the poor, and she made a personal vow that she would never turn away anyone who was in need.

Her family was a very happy one, and she deeply loved her husband, Baron de Chantal and their children. But then, an unexpected tragedy came to them. One day in 1601 her husband was out hunting. A terrible thing happened – one of the men with whom he was hunting accidentally shot him, and he died. When she was told what happened, she was grief-stricken – but instead of reacting with anger towards the man who had killed her husband, St. Jane forgave him. In fact, she even agreed to be the godmother to one of his children. This heroic act of forgiveness shows her deep faith in Christ.

Now that she was a widow, and as her children were growing up, St. Jane felt more and more that she wanted to spend her time in prayer, giving adoration to God and praying for the needs of others. She had a very holy priest as her spiritual director, St. Francis de Sales, and as St. Jane talked with him about her desire to give her life over to prayer, he encouraged her to form a community for herself and others like her. She founded the Community of the Visitation Nuns – reflecting the time when the Blessed Virgin Mary withdrew from her life in Nazareth, and went to visit her cousin St. Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist. There was a holy friendship between her and her spiritual guide, Francis de Sales; with his approval she left her father and children and founded the Visitation nuns. She spent the rest of her life showing her love for God and for others by living a life of prayer until she died, in 1641 when she was nearly seventy years old.

St. Jane gave herself completely to God – first through the sacrament of marriage, then as a loving mother to her children, and finally in religious life.

O God, who madest Saint Jane Frances de Chantal radiant with outstanding merits in divers paths of life in the way of perfection: grant us, through her intercession; that, walking faithfully in our vocation, we may ever be examples of thy shining light; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Strengthened For The Journey

Elijah went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for you.” And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

I Kings 19:4-8

There was a glimpse of the great prophet Elijah in the recent celebration of the Transfiguration, as he appeared with Moses in glory at the summit of Mt. Tabor. In this passage from the First Book of Kings we hear about him in a much humbler setting.

Here he is at a very low point in his life. Elijah just wants it all to be over, so he lays down, trying to escape through sleep, but he hears a voice: "Get up and eat." It was the voice that woke him up as he was dozing under a broom tree – a type of juniper – out in the wilderness. Elijah was, at this point, having what might be described as a career crisis. Things weren’t going as he thought they would. He’d just come back from an amazing victory at Mt. Carmel, where fire had come down from heaven and 450 prophets of Baal had been wiped out. What a great day it was for the God of Israel – and what a great day it was for Elijah, the prophet of Israel.

So, flushed with victory, Elijah had returned to the city of Jezreel fully expecting to put an end to another enemy of God, the wicked Queen Jezebel, who was the murderous wife of King Ahab. Getting rid of her would mean that finally there would be an end to the worship of the false god Baal. Finally there would be a revival of the true worship of Jehovah. So Elijah strode into the city, fully expecting God to take care of everything, and put an end to the rampant idolatry.

But what greeted Elijah instead, as he entered the city, was the bony finger of Jezebel pointing directly at him, with her shrieking at him, "I swear to the gods that I'm going to do what you did to my prophets." Jezebel meant business. But this wasn't what Elijah expected. Suddenly things weren't so clear. Elijah's mission had lost its focus, because it seemed as though God had lost interest in giving his prophet further victories. So Elijah fled to Beersheba, and leaving his servant behind, he went a day's journey into the wilderness alone. He was depressed and disillusioned, so Elijah looked for God where God had always seemed to reveal things so clearly for His people: that is, in the wilderness. It was in the wilderness that had God led Israel. It was in the wilderness that He had shaped them. He taught them in the wilderness, and it was in the wilderness that He fed them.

At this point, Elijah felt like a failure. His ministry had come to a halt, stopped dead in its tracks by Queen Jezebel. So he found a cool place to sit under a broom tree. He prayed. He asked God to let him die. "It's enough,” he said. “I can't take it anymore. I've worked and endured enough. Take my life, Lord. I'm no better than my fathers." Elijah felt that his useful days were done. He wanted to die under that tree in the wilderness. And so, exhausted, he fell asleep.

Why is it that this picture of Elijah seems so human to us, so familiar? Probably because most of us, to some extent or another, have been under that broom tree in the wilderness. Most everyone has, at some time or another, felt useless, washed up, ineffective – wanting to do God’s Will, and yet seeming to fail at it. Elijah has been there before us, trying so hard to defend God and to build up God's kingdom, but seeming to be unsuccessful.

Elijah was convinced that it all rested on him – but was too much for him. And it's too much for us. Our shoulders aren't big enough to hold up our own salvation – much less the kingdom of God.

Certainly, Elijah was a great prophet, but he had fallen into a very human trap: he had begun to think that it all hinged on him, that he was somehow the most important part of the equation.

When we try to live as if everything hangs on us, as if we were the only tool in God's toolbox, as if God is helpless without us, we wind up under a broom tree in the wilderness – confused, lost, weary, broken. As it turns out, the problem with Elijah wasn't Jezebel. God could handle Jezebel, and He would in His own time. No, the problem with Elijah was Elijah, just as very often the problem with us is ourselves. We don't trust God to do His work. We don't trust God's timing and God’s ways. We drive ourselves to despair because we think that God has somehow abandoned us.

But God is merciful. He wouldn't let Elijah die in the wilderness. He sent an angel to touch him and wake him up. "Get up and eat." Next to his head he sees fresh baked bread and water. So Elijah sat up. He ate and drank. And then he laid down again to go back to sleep.

The angel came and touched him a second time. "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." Elijah got up a second time. He ate and drank the food God gave him to eat and drink. And on the strength of that food he was able to journey forty days and forty nights until he came to Horeb, Mt. Sinai, the mountain of God. Just as Israel wandered forty years in the Sinai wilderness, so Elijah wandered forty days back to Sinai. It was a longer journey than Elijah had planned, and a more difficult one. But it was God's way of showing Elijah that He was still the God of Israel. And the miraculous bread and water from God strengthened Elijah, and sustained him on his journey through the wilderness.

Perhaps the most important sentence in that lesson from First Kings is this: "The journey is too much for you." God said that to Elijah, and He says it to each of us also. It really is too much for us to journey through this life, this wilderness of ours, without God's food and drink. It is too much for us, to daily battle sin, death, and the devil, unless we eat and drink from the table God prepares. It is too much for us, to journey from Baptism to eternal life with God, and try to do it on a starvation diet.

But we try. Some people try to get through the day without spending any real time with God. Some try to get through the week without reading the Word of God and without worshipping Him. Some are so foolish as to think they have no need for repentance and absolution, and they try to go without so much as a morsel of the Bread of Life come down from heaven.

Jesus said, "Come to me, all who are weary, and I will give you rest." He really is our Refreshment. "He who believes in me," Jesus said, "will never hunger, never thirst." He really is our Living Water. He really is our Living Bread – it is bread which is baked over the burning fire of God's love. God provides the food and drink that will carry us all the way through to eternal life. Jesus Christ is Food to strengthen us for our journey. He is Drink to refresh and sustain us on our way to eternal life. "If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever." 

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 Pictured: "An Angel Awakens the Prophet Elijah" 

by Juan Antonio de Frías y Escalante (1633-1669)